At this time of year we remember all members of this college who died in conflict. The names of the fallen in the First and Second World Wars, which are inscribed in our war memorials, are read out on Remembrance Sunday; and there is music and poetry in chapel for people of all faiths and none.

We were particularly saddened to read an item from Haileybury School about a young man who died 100 years ago.

Ralph Upton (pictured) attended Haileybury from 1911-1916. He was a college prefect who played cricket and rugby for the school. Ralph was then awarded a scholarship to Selwyn, but never got the chance to come here.

He was gazetted as a Second Lieutenant in the East Surrey Regiment on 11 August 1916. A soldier who had known Ralph at Cadet School wrote that he was ‘a worker whom anyone would choose to have on his side’.

Tragically, he was killed on 3 May 1917, aged just 19. His father wrote: ‘After his wonderful school career, he faced this terrible, gigantic, horrible War with such a spirit and such courage; all the greater for hating and scorning all the ugliness and cruelty of it…But he suffered and hid all that under his cheery, joking manner.’

We think of all Selwynites who fell in conflict, and those like Ralph who never came here, in our Remembrance services.

The University of Cambridge has launched a campaign to promote zero tolerance of sexual misconduct.

Called ‘Breaking the Silence – Cambridge speaks out against sexual misconduct’, the campaign will highlight a range of new prevention, support and reporting measures coming into effect in 2017.

It launched on October 24th with a new website and film showing CUSU’s women’s officer Lola Olufemi, who graduated from Selwyn this summer, and senior leaders including Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Toope advocating zero tolerance of all forms of harassment.

The website
Selwyn alumna Lola Olufemi as she is seen in the campaign film.

Selwyn’s new students took part in the matriculation photograph in Old Court on October 2^nd to mark the start of the academic year. Freshers were formally welcomed the previous afternoon by the Master and Senior Tutor, and this week they have induction sessions in the college and across the university.

Most of our 123 new undergraduates are from the United Kingdom, but we now have the full list of nationalities which shows the global reputation of the university and the college. Countries represented in addition to Britain are Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, New Zealand, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and the USA. Of the 94 UK students, 71% went to state-maintained schools.  

Our new graduates represent an even greater range of countries: the United States, Azerbaijan, Italy, South Africa, Netherlands, Spain, Mexico, Ireland, China, Lebanon, Latvia, Germany, Cyprus, Turkey, Singapore, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, India, Norway, France, Canada, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Austria, South Korea, Syria and New Zealand. They joined together for the first time in their matriculation dinner in Hall on September 30^th.

We wish them all every success in their time at Selwyn.

The actor Hugh Laurie visited Selwyn on September 25^th and took part in a question and answer session with students. Hugh is a Selwyn alumnus (SE 1978) who studied archaeology and anthropology, and he is now an Honorary Fellow of the college.

There was a packed Master’s Lodge for his session with current Selwynites. Hugh talked about his family connection with Selwyn: his father, an Olympic gold medallist, studied here – as did his brother. He spoke about his rowing – he was in the 1980 Boat Race – and how during his time in Cambridge he moved into acting and writing, and met Stephen Fry.

He also talked about the roles he’s played – moving from comedy to drama, though he said he thought there was a lot of humour in the series ‘House’; and about how pleased he is that today’s students also enjoy his comedy from two or three decades ago. He finally mentioned that he’s back in a recording studio later this year to make another album as a musician.

Selwyn has a tradition in Japanese studies through its former Master, Professor Richard Bowring, and also retired Fellow Haruko Laurie. We’re therefore particularly pleased to welcome Dr Vicky Young to the Fellowship this autumn. She is the newly-appointed University of Cambridge Kawashima Lecturer in Japanese literature and culture.

Vicky completed her undergraduate degree at Trinity Hall, holds an MA in Japanese Cultural Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London, and received her PhD from the University of Leeds in 2016. Her doctoral thesis focuses on the writings of Sakiyama Tami, Yi Yang-ji, and Tawada Yoko: three writers whose work represents her broader interests in Okinawan, resident Korean, and ‘transborder’ literature respectively. 

The college now has a considerable strength in modern languages. There are Selwyn Fellows or bye-fellows in German, Italian, Russian, Spanish and French – and we’re delighted to strengthen our links with the Faculty of Asian and Middle East Studies. Vicky Young will be formally installed as a Selwyn Fellow at the start of October.

Our freshers arrive at the end of September, and in the past few days we’ve confirmed the places of those who’ve been accepted – and they’re now getting all the information they need about the new academic year.

So here’s what we know about our 2017 undergraduate intake. There will be 123 of them – 62 men and 61 women. Of the UK students, 94 in total, around 70% went to state schools. 12 of our new students come from the EU (up 1 on last year); and 17 come from overseas (up 3 on last year). The countries represented in addition to Britain are Australia, Austria, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, New Zealand, Romania, Singapore, Sweden and the USA. 

We look forward to welcoming them all to Selwyn.

Selwyn has an extensive outreach programme to show young people from all backgrounds that Cambridge could be for them. We visit schools across the United Kingdom, and we host a number of groups who explore the college and the city. Much of the activity is focused around years 11 and 12, but we also welcome younger children for their first experience of what a university is like.

This summer we particularly enjoyed meeting 36 Year 5 pupils from Bonnygate Primary School and Cranbrook Primary School (both in Essex) and Dersingham Primary School in East London. The pupils were here at Selwyn in association with the Brilliant Club for their ’launch’ trip to mark the beginning of a Scholars’ Programme where they have weekly tutorials and produce a final research assignment. Our photo shows some of the children from Dersingham outside the college.

Read more about the Brilliant Club here: http://www.thebrilliantclub.org/. There’s more information about our access and outreach work online: http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/access-outreach/.

Our catering manager Bill Simmonett will be retiring next month, and people from across the college
came to a lunchtime party to mark the occasion.

Bursar Nick Downer (right) thanked Bill for his 26 years of service to Selwyn, during which the
college and its catering & conferences operation had grown massively.

Bill in return said that friendliness was at the heart of Selwyn, and he would greatly miss his
colleagues and friends here.

We wish Bill a long and happy retirement.

The Selwyn choir's tour of California began in the spectacular setting of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. There was a large audience for a concert that ranged from Tallis to Mealor, and included the North American premiere of James MacMillan's One Equal Music.

The concert was introduced by the Master of Selwyn Roger Mosey, who thanked the alumni and benefactors who had made the trip to California possible. He added that in troubled times it's essential to retain the bonds between the people of the United States and Britain - and music is one of the ways of bridging continents.

Before the concert there was a reception for all University alumni hosted by 'Cambridge in America'. Among the Selwynites present were Julian Abdey (1991), Zach Marcus (2010) and Sabrina Abdey.

The other stops on the choir tour are Sacramento, Fresno and San Diego.

Selwyn students received their degrees on Friday June 30th in a centuries-old ceremony in the university's Senate House. A full selection of photographs is now online: https://www.flickr.com/photos/selalum/sets/72157685750774826

The afternoon started with a graduands' photograph in Old Court.

The Selwyn contingent then processed down West Road and through King's College to the graduation ceremony itself.

Here are four of our new BAs on the steps of the Senate House afterwards.

We congratulate all our new graduates, and we're delighted that many of them are staying on at Selwyn to study for a Master's degree or a doctorate.